First Summer
by BlackShadowScythe
Summary: Wicked is finally getting married! And its to someone other than the Hacker! Unacceptable! Hacker throws a short fit and tries to start the Wreaker to intercept only to find that someone has drained all the fuel. Stuck in the Northern Frontier until a repairman can arrive, Hacker starts thinking about the first time he and Wicked met.
1. Not Invited!

**Author's Note: This fic will tell the origins of our two most evil and classy villains as well as a certain cyber turkey with a little red bow tie. This will be written in Hacker's point of view. Hacker is tricky to write so I apologize for any out of character moments he or Wicked might have! As you read, please remember to pay attention to the year and age (of Hacker) as it will make the story a bit easier to understand. I put "X" in front of the year because this is obviously fiction and not the real 2005 :D  
**

**Warning! The first and last chapters of this fic is heavily inspired by the episode, "Designing Mr. Perfect". I don't mean to steal, but I felt that setting it in that type of situation will be perfect for this story's purpose. **

* * *

**Chapter 1: Not Invited!**

* * *

Year X-2005

Age: 40 cyber-years

The land was dead, had been for a long time. The wind howled through the moor like a sickly wounded animal and the air smelled sour, like a disease that was slowly eating away at the heart of the land. It wasn't surprising then that even after all these decades, the Northern Frontier remained all but unsettled. It was the land of evil that even evil despised. Home of the Hacker, Resident Evil Genius, Scientist extraordinaire, the King of Chaos, Arch Enemy of Motherboard. The man of a thousand title and ten times as many schemes.

The only structure for miles around was the hanger of the Grimm Wreaker, a warship of the Hacker's own design and which he had put together with his own two hands. A single leafless tree, with its bark crumbling and branches bent sat outside in the cold, hard soil. The one upside to living in a desolate wasteland was that it never rained which meant no water, no life and nobody around to disturb him. It was the main reason, the only reason, he had chosen to stay in this isle of death for so long.

Hacker walked down the long hallway which led to the control room of his ship. Fresh air pulsed out of the pipes, curtsy of the filters he had installed in the air vents. He sat down in his recharger chair and flicked the switch. The chair vibrated gently. As he recharged, he flipped through the mail piled up on the control panel. It was mostly ads for junk he didn't want. There were a few coupons for mechanic parts, but nothing that he needed. It had been a slow couple of months in the Northern Frontier. He let out a deep sigh that sounded a little more like a groan and shoved all the papers into the trash can.

Just then something caught this eyes. He looked back at the trash can and was a little surprised to see a pink envelope with large scripted letters scrawled onto it that read, _"to Hackie"._

He picked up the envelop and smirked a little. He knew full well who had sent it. What a pain that wrench was. "So she has decided she is in need of the Hacker after all."he chuckled and leaned back in his chair to consider for a moment. He could let the letter sit a few days before opening it, just to spite her a little. he eventually decided against it. It had been months since he had heard from Wicked and he missed her, although he would never admit it out loud.

The last time he had seen her, she had been on vacation with her new boyfriend. Nothing new, she was always starting cheap affairs with men who she would drop after the first date and never speak to again. And now she had come running back to him. But what could she have sent him? A letter of apology? Or maybe a new plan? Curiosity won him over and he tore the seal off the envelope which reeked of Chanel #5. Inside the envelope was a CD.

He inserted the disc into the player and quickly tossed to over perfumed envelope back into the trash can. "Hello Hackie-poo, its Wicked." she chirped, her bouncing red curls hung loose and poured like waterfall down her shoulder. "I've finally found Mr. Perfect and guess what? It isn't you!"

"What?!" Hacker shouted. "No one is more perfect than the Hacker!" It was outrageous, unheard of, uncalled for!

"You remember William right?" Wicked said, stepping aside to reveal a buff middle aged cyborg wearing a tux. Hacker remembered all too well.

"Hey." the borg said, causally.

"We're getting married today and guess what? You're not invited! Have a nice life!" she said, as she blew a kiss into the camera.

Hacker gritted his teeth and growled. How dare she! She'll be marrying scrap metal if he had anything to say about it. He pushed a few buttons on the keypad and the lights on the ship flickered on, only to blink out a moment later, leaving the the control room and the rest of the ship in almost total darkness.

"What?!" Hacker shouted, "Wicked!" he growled. He was positive the witch was responsible although he didn't know how she had managed to drained the Wreaker's cryoxide. "Buzz! Delete! Where are you duncespuckets?!"

"Right here boss!" Delete said as he and Buzz burst through the door of the control room. They tripped over each other in the darkness and landed at their boss's feet.

Hacker groaned. One of these days he'd kick them to the curb and hire better help, maybe Baskerville. Now there was a henchmen with class. "Call the mechanic and have him deliver 600 gallons of cryoxide to the Northern Frontier!"

"Yes boss! Let's go Dee Dee!" Buzz cried as the two of the rushed off.

Hacker sighed and fell back into his recharger chair. He waited a few moments for the emergency generator to kick in and turned on his chair for a recharge. As he felt the power begin to flow through his body, he gripped the arm rests and began grinding his nails on them, forming deep scratches and badly denting the metal.

Sometimes he wondered why he bothered with her. When he did take over Cyberspace, she would ask him for two-thirds and then leave without giving him a second glance. All the trouble she had put him through, even before his exile. No one was worth that much and certainly not a washed up old witch. So, why did he still care?...


	2. Bugs and Blackout

**Chapter 2: Bugs and Blackout**

* * *

Year X-1977

Age: 12 cyber-years

Like most days, business was slow in Control Central, Hacker sat, spinning in his swivel chair and waiting for calls to come in. "Hacker." Doctor Marbles said, poking his head in though the door of the lobby. "Sit up straight now, you want to make a good first impression don't you?"

"Yes Doctor Marbles." Hacker said obediently. Hacker removed a piece of paper from the desk drawer and began scribbling formulas onto it. From the moment his systems were first activated, Marbles had taught him all about engineering and mechanics. He specialized in program alteration and of course, hacking. But there was one other thing he excelled at. A talent in his hard drive that not even Marbles was aware of, virus coding.

He was currently working on what he called the Super-Virus. A bug that, when completed would destroy any cyborg in the universe in an instant. He didn't know the reason for his obsession. He had been programmed as a security borg to protect Motherboard and get rid of an potential threats. But part of him would rather spend the day coding. He had looked though his own hardware, software and drives hundreds of times, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary.

He felt a draft of wind as the automatic doors to Control Central slid open. He looked up from his design to greet the visitor, but was instead knocked out of his seat by what he thought, based on its speed and force it slammed into him with, could only be a missile. It was a girl.

She wore a purple dress and had a head of bouncing red curls. She whizzed into the lobby on a broom, the top of which was now digging into Hacker's throat. "Get off me! Get off!" he cried, shoving the girl off his body.

"What's going on?" Marbles said. He spotted the girl. "Are you alright miss?" he asked.

"Is _she_ alright?!" Hacker cried with indignation, "How about me?! This _witch _nearly decapitated me with her broom!" He coughed a little and held his hands to his throat to make Dr. Marbles feel guilty, but the doctor was still staring at the girl who was shaky and out of breath.

"You have to help!" the girl said finally. "There's a blackout in Happily Ever After! The underground is crawling with bugs!"

"Hacker let's go!" Marbles commanded, then turning to Wicked he said, "We'll need you to lead us to epicenter of the damage. Can you do that?"

"I think so." she said meekly.

"Don't worry I'll protect you." Hacker bragged folding his arms and puffing out his chest to look tough. He grabbed a briefcase from underneath the desk. The case was filled with their equipment. They would need it to repair the damages the bugs had caused.

He followed Marbles to the flight pod. Marbles got into the driver's seat, Hacker got in beside him and Wicked crawled into the back with her broom. Hacker placed with case on his lap and undid the buckles. The case was filled with various flash drives that he had installed reprogramming devices into. The flash drives were made so that they would download all their content automatically after being plugged in.

He carefully selected one of the drives. "Watch the geniuses work, kid." Hacker said, holding flash drive in front of her face.

"Hey!" the girl cried, "That's not fair! You're a kid too!"

"Am not!" Hacker protested, "I'm twelve!"

"Yeah!" she snorted, "You're definitely not a kid. Then she added quietly, "And my name's Wicked."

"Kid." Hacker mumbled. He folded his arm and pouted.

"Alright that's enough." Marbles said, with as much seriousness as he could muster although he couldn't help but let a smile escape his lips.

* * *

"Because it is the middle of the day, its difficult to tell there's blackout." Marbles explained to Hacker. "However, without power, this site and any other will be rendered completely dysfunctional, causing it to break down in a matter of days."

Wicked led them to the basement of a tall tower. "The site's core is that way." she said, pointing down a long hallway. She stepped back and let Hacker take the lead. "I don't like bugs." Wicked confessed. She retreat up the stairs and back outside.

"Let's go Doc." Hacker said as he started waling down the hall. He could see a glowing green light coming from his left, "I think the core is just around the corner this way."

The hallway was something of a sewer. There were two paths separated by a river of water. Like a sewer, the walls were damp and moldy. "Who's the Admin of this site?" Hacker asked. "With a place like this, I'm not surprised there are bugs. How can borgs even live like this?" he said in disgust.

"Sometimes I wonder if their happiness is real or just an illusion. I for one can't see what all the fuss is about. I mean they have blackouts like this all the time, you'd think," he groaned as he accidentally stepped in a puddle of slime, "they'd take better care of their site."

"The people of this site are all very forgiving. They don't allow for little things to bother them too much." Marbles said, "I hypothesized their happiness stems from that."

"Also carelessness." Hacker grumbled, "And laziness. You just said that a site would break down if a blackout wasn't repair in time. That's doesn't sound _little_ to me." Then he added, "I think, that people who can't see things as they are, are just lying to themselves."

The two turned the corner. The site's core hovered in the air just a few feet ahead. It radiated power and glowed with an odd green energy. Hacker looked around. He couldn't spot a single bug in sight. "Maybe they made a mistake?" he suggested.

"No." Marbles said. He looked around and took a step causing the floor to creak below him. Suddenly bugs crept out of every hole and crevasse of the sewer. Hacker spotted a particular large one perched atop the core, greedily munching on a stash of wires and electrical circuitry.

"Watch out!" Hacker cried, pushing Marbles aside as a bug leapt down from the ceiling. He lifted the flash drive and inserted it into a slot in the bug's stomach.

"Download complete." a computerized voice said. The bug fell to the ground, its eyes dimming.

Hacker removed the drive and stuck it back into his pocket. "I don't think this'll be enough."

"You'll need to make it to the core and reprogram the Queen. The others will follow her command." Marbles told him.

"Alright then." Hacker darted down the hall, ignoring the bugs that clung to him. He was, after all, immune to most bugs and viruses alike. The Doc had designed him so that he couldn't he reprogrammed.

Hacker leapt onto the spherical core. He landed several inches from the top and desperately clung to the side. He reached into his pocket, grabbed the flashdrive and tossed it at the Queen's underbelly. Just then, he lost his grip on the structure and plummeted into the tainted waste water. He flailed in the smiley liquid goo and screamed, "GAHHH!"

* * *

Hacker stood stiff, eyes widened and bewildered, still disgusted by the sewer water. He felt as not even a radiation bath could clean his metal. He and Marbles were met by a crowd of citizens as they emerged from the basement of the tower. They cheered and crowded around Marbles and Hacker. Wicked was at the front of the crowd, "Pretty gross huh?" she teased, "I should've warned you 'bout that. Sorry." She grinned, innocently.

"Yeah, you were a big help, thanks a bunch." he said, sarcastically.

"So what do they call you?"

"Huh?"

"Hello?" Wicked knocked his in the head playfully, "I'm asking you what your name is."

"Hacker."

"That's not a name, that's a title. What's your name?" Wicked asked, smiling, almost piteously.

hacker looked confused for a moment, then lifted his hand in front of her face. "That's classified." he said, pretending to brood while looking the other way.

"So you're just a Hacker?"

"I'm _the_ Hacker."

* * *

Note: I realized that the characters are slightly out of character, especially Wicked, but please remember that this is in the distant past and that both Hacker and Wicked are children and very young children at that. Children and adults have very, very different personalities even the same person can change a lot in 20-30 years time.


	3. Reunion

**Chapter 3: Reunion**

* * *

Year X-1980

Age: 15 cyber-years

Hacker turned on the radio inside the flight pod. Loud music blasted out of the speakers and he frantically twisted the knob, but only managed to turn it on louder. He quickly stabbed his finger on the off button and heaved a sigh. Seemed like all there was on the radio was loud rock. Whatever happened to the classics?

Motherboard's face appeared on the monitor. "There is something heading your way. Continue with caution."

Hacker looked in both directions and through the rear view mirror, but saw nothing. "Are you sure Motherboard? I don't see-" Suddenly something landed on his windshield. He swerved by instinct and cried out in shock. Luckily traffic, like always was almost nonexistent and he didn't crash into anyone.

"Come in Hacker!" Motherboard said, "Do you read me?! Are you alright?"

"Fine."

"What happened?"

"Nothing Motherboard" he said, setting the ship to autopilot and crawling out through the window. "Just a really big bug on my windshield."

"A virus?"

"Yes, I suppose it would be something like that." he said as he tried to drag Wicked in through the window. "This one has been tailing me for years. Any advice on getting rid of it?" Just then, Wicked's foot his thigh, knocking the flashdrive, which had the the latest version of the Super-Virus on it, out of his pocket and into the depths of space. Hacker watched the drive fall with his mouth handing slightly open. he had work for nearly 4 years on that formula and just like that it was gone.

He turned back to the monitor, "Motherboard it looks like I'm taking a detour back to Control Central."

"Understood," Motherboard said and her face disappeared from the screen.

As Hacker turned around and headed back to Control Central, he tapped on the steering wheel impatiently. What in the world was she doing so far from Happily Ever After? And better yet, what was she going crashing into people's windshields. "You're going to pay me for that flashdrive lady. Yeah, you heard me!" He didn't know who he was talking to, Wicked was still unconscious , but he was fuming. He felt tense and jumpy, like he wanted to toss her back out the window after his flashdrive.

"4 years, 4 years, 4 years." he mumbled, obsessively as he drove back to Control Central.

When he landed, Marbles was there to greet him. Hacker guessed the Doc had heard from Motherboard that he had been forced to turn around. "Looks like we'll have to install that Daylight Defense Program another day, Doc." he said as he dragged Wicked out of the backseat.

"Where did you find her?" Marbles asked.

"Really its more like she found me." Hacker sighed, "She crashed right into my windshield and almost stopped by hardware."

Marbles picked Wicked up by the legs and the two hoisted her into the infirmary. They gently laid her down on a cot and Marbles put his hand to her forehead. "She's overheated." he noted, "I'll fetch something to cool her down."

Hacker reached for Wicked's broom. It was an outdated and rather cheap model. He ran his hand gently across the wood. It snapped at the middle and broke into two pieces. "Well that explains why she crashed." he mumbled as he bug through the desk drawers, looking for a roll of tape.

He heard a soft moan as Wicked came to and scanned the room to see where she was. "You're in Control Central." he said, to save her from having to ask.

"I know that." she said, "I'm not an idiot." She tried to get up.

"You're overheated, don't move too much." he advised, trying hard to keep himself from strangling her. _Four years... four years... four years..._

"My broom." Wicked said sadly.

"Broken." Hacker said, giving up on the tape. "So what are you doing all the way out here anyways?"

"I was about to inquire the same." Marbles said. He placed a bag on ice on Wicked's forehead. "You're an awfully long ways from Happily Ever After."

"I just wanted to practice." Wicked said, "I'm going to start delivering mechanical parts across cybersite and I wanted to practice."

"Well you're not going to get anywhere going on that." Hacker scoffed, "That model's outdated, not to mention broken."

"Did your parents approve of your assignment?" Marbles asked.

"Well no, but..." Wicked said, "I've never really known either of them. They died when I was young and I've lived on my own since. I've made a bit doing deliveries in Happily Ever After, but there's not much a demand. Recently I've visited Radopolis and managed to a parts dealer who said he'll hire me, but only if I can go really fast so I was practicing." She held up her broom, "This was my mother's."

Hacker heaved a sigh. It didn't look like he was getting consolation for his flashdrive after all. Apparently Wicked had enough problems and there was no way she would be able to pay even half the amount his work had cost. And even if she could, it wouldn't get him his drive back. It looked like he was just going to have to start over from square one.

Wicked got up. "I have to get back." she said.

"Where?" Hacker asked, "Your broom is broken."

Wicked paused for a moment, lost in thought. "If you would like to, you could stay here until you have had a chance to recover." Marbles suggested.

"I think I'm alright." Wicked smiled, "I may be on my own, but I make enough to keep myself fed, "I'll just need a ride home if you don't mind."

Hacker was about to ask how she intended to make anything without a broom, but decided against it. Better not pile on to the bad new.

* * *

**I try to writing long chapters, but it ends up barely hitting 1000 words :( oh well its the quality that counts I guess. Anyways to next chapter I'll be the best of the bunch and I really look forward to posting it as quickly as possible so stay tuned for it! :D**


	4. Wicked's Dream

**Chapter 4: Wicked's Dream**

* * *

Year X-1980

Age: 15 cyber-years

Wicked's house was a small cottage on the outskirts of town. It was a quaint little building with a straw roof surrounded by miles of grassland in every direction. Hacker opened the doors and reluctantly got out of the flight pod. When he stood up the grass went up to his waste. Wicked drove into the grass like a duck diving into water and was almost completely engulfed prairie.

"Wicked?" Hacker said. He looked around, but couldn't see the little witch anywhere.

"Come on!" a voice said from somewhere inside the sea of grass. A small hand sprang up, seemingly from nowhere, grabbed Hacker by the wrist and pulled him downwards.

"Hey!" he cried. The blades of grass poked at his metal skin. "It itches!" he protested, "Let go of me! Hey! Let go!" But Wicked continued to cling to him like a bramble bush.

"Look up at the sky." Wicked said as she shoved Hacker onto his back. The girl spread her arms, taking in the fresh air.

"What are you looking at?" he asked. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Nothing. I'm just enjoying it." Wicked said. She turned and seeing that Hacker was about to get up again cried, "Coming on! Stay with me."

Hacker didn't see the point, but he lay down next to Wicked, stiff as a board. Wicked frowned and shook her head pityingly, "You're hopeless." she sighed.

"Oh I'm hopeless am I?" Hacker sneered, "And what do you call being careless and almost getting killed?"

"Can you blame me? Its so boring around here. A girl likes to travel you know!" she smiled.

"So what you said before was a lie?"

"Of course." Wicked laughed, "You didn't really think I was telling the truth did you?" She shook her head. "Nevermind." she said, "I use to be a student at Frogsnorts. I've never known either of my parents. That part was true I guess. I didn't like it too much there. There weren't really any real problems, it just wasn't meant to be I guess. So I suppose you could say I grabbed as many snelfus as I could and got out of there for good. I keep hoping I'd get to find the place I'm meant to be."

"And now you've found it?"

"No." she said sadly, "This isn't it either."

"So why did you lie?"

"Silly! Do you really think Marbles would've let me just leave if he found out I was a runaway?"

"How about your broom?"

"Got a whole closet full."

"You're nothing but trouble you know that?" he grumbled.

She stared up at the sky and reached for it with one hand. She closed her hand into a fist, as if grabbing something, "Someday this'll all be mine." she said wistfully.

"Yeah? And how do you plan on doing that?" Hacker asked, "Cyberspace belongs to Motherboard."

"For now." Wicked said, giggling.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that I'll be Queen of Cyberspace one day." she giggled.

"Really and how's that going to happen?" Hacker raised his eyebrow.

"I don't know, but once I'm an adult I figure it out." Wicked said. "Besides every Queen needs a partner. You know why they call you the Big E?" she teased.

"What? No one calls me that."

"Sure they do." Wicked grinned, rolling over on her stomach and poking Hacker in the face. He closed his eyes to avoid being poked in the eye. "It's cause you look like Elvis."

"Stop it! Stop it!" Hacker said, brushing her hands away. He got up and started walking back towards the ship.

"Hey where are you going?" Wicked asked, sitting up.

"Back to Control Central."

"Why?" There was a long silence. Wicked stood up and dusted herself off. "You know. You and I are a lot alike."

"How's that?"

"Well you don't really belong in Control Central do you?" she said with a serious expression. "So why do you go back?"

Hacker sighed, "I'll see you later Wicked."


	5. Love is a Curious Thing

**Chapter 5: Love is a Curious Thing**

* * *

Year X-1981

Age: 16 cyber-years

"They all seem to be functioning properly." Marbles said. He tapped on a tube in the newly installed cyber-static satellites. The tubes made a clear, solid sound. He looked around the room and scribbled a few chicken scratches in a spiral bound notebook he always kept handy.

Hacker sat in a corner doodling. He had already checked the pipes. They would last at least a couple of decades, providing nothing unexpected happened, but the Doc was in the habit of checking things for himself and wouldn't take Hacker's word for it until he checked every inch of the new facility for himself.

Since he lost the Super-Virus flashdrive, he had made no attempt to recreate it. Instead he had spent the last 5 years drawing various blueprints and making prototypes of machines. Just last month he and Marbles had created a set of satellites that would suck cyber-satellite out of space. The satellites were a major advancement as they would permanently get rid of the endless flood of filth that polluted cyberspace. They had so far installed 4 different satellites in various quadrants of cyberspace where the pollution had been greatest.

But what Hacker was doodling was completely unrelated. He instead sketching a design for a giant metal armor. He had no idea what such a thing could be used for, but it looked incredibly brilliant. "Hacker!"

"Yes?" he said, quickly looking up from his work. _What now?_ He hastily shut his sketchbook and ran to meet Marbles.

"Everything seems to be in order." Marbles said, "When will Wicked be here with the lock?"

"She should be here already." he said. _Do you expect me to have a tracking device on her?_

Just then, Wicked whirled it with a cloud of dust and static. She leapt off her broom and landed swiftly on her feet, brushing little flecks of multi-colored dust off her dress. "I for one am glad your having these things built. This static is starting to get ridiculous." She pulled a package out from a sack tied to her waist and handed the package to Hacker. "What is it?" she asked peering over Hacker's shoulder as he opened it.

Inside was long joy stick with a leather handle. He took the stick and tossed the box aside. He walked over to the control panel and inserted one end of the stick into a sort at the top, turning it into a level. He pull the lever to one side and walked over to the window. Wicked and Marbles joined him and watched as the satellite began sucking in cyber-static from outside. "These satellites will absorb roughly 2.763 tons of cyber-static per week." Marbles lectured.

"By the way Doc." Wicked said. "I be off from work next week."

"That'll be fine." Marbles said, "If my calculations are correct, we shouldn't have much to do till the week after next." Then he added, "But if I may ask, what is the occasion?"

Wicked hopped back on her broom and smiled, "Its my birthday!"

"Congratulations." Marbles smiled warmly.

"See you later Hacker!" Wicked waved and exited the satellite station.

* * *

Hacker pulled open the drawers of his desk, revealing the contents inside. Piles of blueprint paper poured out onto the floor. Most of them were blank, but a few had drawings labeled by small, neat handwriting of stuff he had yet to make and some were sloppy ideas he would never use, but kept anyways. Just then a clatter erupted from the back room.

"I know! I know!" Hacker said. "Just hold on will you? You're hungry, I'm hungry we all have things we want alright?!" He grabbed a bunch of scrap metal and wires and opened the door to the back room with one hand.

Inside the room was an enormous cage that was hanging from the ceiling with a long piece of titanium rope. The cage was so huge that it nearly reached all the way down to the ground. There was a huge cloth draped over the cage so that the contents couldn't be seen. He removed the cloth, revealing a cage filled with bugs he had collected over the years. He had gotten his first bug, Binary he had picked up after the incident with Happily Ever After. The rest had been collected through various trips the the Cyberary and other infected sites.

Hacker opened the door to the cage a crack and shoved the pile of assorted wires and metal into it. The bugs nibbled at the junk greedily. Hacker sighed. Digging up enough scrap for them was always a pain. "Maybe I should just give on of you to Wicked." he joked. The truth was, he really enjoyed taking care of the bugs. He wouldn't be doing it if he didn't. Neither Motherboard nor Marbles knew a thing about this latest obsession of his and he hoped it would turn out better than the Super-Virus had.

Hacker pulled out a blueprint labeled, _"Alartron 2.0"_

"I wonder." he whispered under his breath as a thin lipped smile crossed his lips.

* * *

The tall grass brushed against his chest as Hacker trudged towards town. Wicked house was empty and the lights inside were off. Figures, she had gone into town. Just his luck, the one time had forgotten to check the fuel gauge, the tank went empty. So now he would have to carry several gallons of cryoxide back with him through the grass which was just as tall and itchy as ever. He held a box firmly under his arm. Its contents clanked as he walked so it sound like he was stomping around with a warden's key collection.

As he made his way into town he saw that not much had changed since his last visit. The quaint little cottage houses were still lined with picket fences and decorated with blueberries bushes. The grass in their yards were neatly trimmed and a healthy shade of green. On the surface it looked like a perfect little town, but if one looked closely, they would see that the paint on the side of the house was peeling and the charming little picket fence was rotten wood, it's cracks filled with termites. The blueberries were small and tasteless and the grass was plastic. Marbles had programmed him that way so that he would easily be able to spot bugs and error in Motherboard's drives, but he found that his skill also extended to other times.

Hacker had no trouble seeing all of the town's imperfections. That was just how he had been programmed. Sometimes he wished he had the ignorance these people seemed to possess so easily and live with his eyes wide shut, blind to everything around him.

He spotted a convenience store across the street and headed inside, hoping they had a few cans of cryoxide to spare. He walked through the front door then immediately turned around and tried to head back out, but unfortunately he was caught.

"What's in the box Hacker?" Wicked's voice rang.

Hacker cringed and bit his tongue. He turned around slowly to face her. Wicked had her hair in a bow and was clinging to the arm of the most ridiculously over-muscled borg he had ever seen. He rubbed his brow with frustration and annoyance and tried to come up with a believable lie.

"Spare parts." he said finally.

Wicked looked down at the box. It had been wrapped with purple paper and had a red bow tied neatly at the top. "That's a really nice box for spare parts."

"Yeah cause its a present." _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

"A present?"

"Yeah... the parts are a present. For.. Marbles." he stammered. _Great job you genius. _He fought the urge to strangle himself.

Wicked looked at him blankly for a moment and laughed. "You're so weird." she said giggling.

"Let's go gorgeous." the borg said.

* * *

Hacker tore the box open. Inside was a robotic bird with wings and talons. He tossed it into a corner and stomped at the parts with angry frustration. What in the world had he been thinking?! What a stupid waste of time! Looking back on it, it made no sense to him. He buried his face in his hands and moaned. It didn't matter, it was over now.

He leaned back in his seat and stared at the pile of strap metal in the corner. "No sense letting it go to waste." he whispered as he got up and started, one by one, slowly picking up the pieces.


	6. Digit

**Chapter 6: Digit**

* * *

Year X-1982

Age: 17 cyber-years

Hacker tossed a bucketful of scrap metal and wires into the cage and watched as the bugs devoured them greedily. "Hacker?" he heard Dr. Marbles drum his fist softly on the door to his room.

He quickly exited the spare room where he kept his pets and locked the door behind him. "Coming Doctor Marbles!" he cried. His voice still shaking a bit. He took deep breaths and did his best to calm himself down before opening the door. "I'm lowering Motherboard's firewall to install a update and I need an assistant to monitor incoming projectiles."

"Of course." Hacker nodded. He was familiar with the routine. The Doc always asked him to supervise incoming data to make sure bugs didn't get into Motherboard's system when he planned on installing updates.

He sat down and monitored the stream of binary flowing down the screen just as he had done on a hundred previous occasions. Everything checked out so far.

"Taking down the firewall." Marble announced. "Installing update. Uploading..."

Suddenly an anomaly swept across the screen. "Doc!" Hacker cried. He and Marbles both whirled around, just in time to see a fleck of dust in the distance. The fleck steady grew larger until Hacker could clearly see the shape of a massive hunk of rock shooting towards Control Central and hundreds of miles an hour.

"That meteorite is made of magnetite." Motherboard said. And although her dialogue was usually rather robotic in delivery, Hacker sensed a tinge of fear. "If it collides with us it will erase all of my memories."

Marbles turned back to the keypad, desperately pushing buttons and trying to get the firewall back up. Hacker knew he would knew make it in time. Hacker turned around and ran back to his room as fast as he could, which, unfortunately wasn't a very impressive speed. "Hacker!" Doctor Marbles cried.

Hacker flung the door to the back room open and tossed the cloth aside, revealing his cage filled with bugs. The bugs were jumpy and anxious and they shook the cage with anticipation. He lifted the hatch and all hell broke loose. Hacker covered his head and dropped to the ground. Although he was resistant to bugs, he had no intention of being swept away by the swarm.

He heard the sound of glass shatter as the bugs broke through the window. He ran back to the control room, just in time to see the swarm make impact with the meteorite causing an explosion that, shattered most of the remaining windows.

Doctor Marbles stood up. He had ducked under the table to avoid the shards of glass that now littered the control room. "The update is complete. Rebooting firewall." He turned to Hacker. "Where did you get those bugs?"

"I-"

"Nevermind." he said, shaking his head, "You did a fine job. I doubt any of us would be alive if you hadn't done what you did."

Hacker smiled, but only for a second. He knew it wasn't over yet. If another meteorite were to come, they would be helpless. They would need a Plan B.

* * *

Year X-1985

Age: 20 cyber-years

"Happy birthday Digit." Hacker said, plopping a red baseball cap on the boid's head. He placed a pair of matching sneakers on the table and the boid stuffed his talons into them.

Digit looked down at his feet, admiring his new shoes. "Thanks boss." the boid squawked. His tail feathers spun around like the blades of a helicopter as he lifted himself into the air and hovered around the room.

Today the boid would be three years old. Hacker had put him back together and spent several months reprogramming him to be his personal assistant. Digit's beak would shift into several tools including a drill, screwdriver and keys of nearly every shape. He watched with pride as Digit flew from one end of the room to the next, but his smile eruptly vanished as he heard the automatic doors open with a fwoosh.

"Hello Wicked." he muttered without even turning around. Whatever feelings he had once held for her had been nothing but a phase that had long since passed.

"I see you're still playing with your bird toy." Wicked teased as Digit perched on his shoulder. Hacker took the package from her and said nothing, hoping that Wicked would go away. He was wrong. She kept talking. "You've no fun anymore. When I first met you, you were more spontaneous."

"Fly away Wicked." Hacker seethed. "I hope you get sucked into a black hole."

"No reason to be rude." Wicked said, "I just thought you would be interested in knowing that I found that part you were asking for."

Hacker raised an eyebrow and finally turned to look at the witch who was holding a computer chip about the size of a tea saucer between her fingers. He reached for it, but Wicked, still hovering on her broom, rose into the air and held it out of his reach. "Hold on a minute handsome. I'll give it to you, _if _you tell me why you've been such a grouch lately."

Hacker kept silent, allowing only a smug smile escape his lips. "Wha- Hey!" Wicked cried as Digit snuck up behind her and swiped the chip out of her hands. The boid flew over to Hacker and dropped the chip into the palm of his hand.

"Correction!" Hacker grinned. "I'll be taking this and you will be leaving." He patted Digit on the head and laughed as he headed to his room and slammed the door behind him.

* * *

Digit watched as Hacker installed the chip into the center of a bluebird shaped robot. He didn't really understand what it was all about, but Hacker said it was for Motherboard so it must have been really important.

Hacker picked up the top cover to the bluebird and handed Digit a mask with a small slit near the top so he could see. He put similar mask over his own face and picked up a blowtorch. Sparks scattered over the desk as he sealed the bluebird shut.

"I thought it would be convenient to create a back up storage for Motherboard's memories." he said, "A while back a meteorite made of magnetite almost hit Control Central. We were able to stop it, but..." he paused for a moment, "if another one were to strike, its unlikely we will be so lucky."

Digit struggled to take off his mask. It was heavy and his wings were clumsy and useless with picking things up. He finally managed to remove the mask, but the weight dragged him down and he fell to the down with a, "Yoicks!"

He sat up, still dazed from the fall. The world seemed to spin around him in a blur. When he came to he saw Hacker trying straighten out his badly dented beak. "Why does magnetite resistance metal have to be so flimsy!?" he complained. "There." he said as he finally succeeded in smooth down Digit's beak. "Now let's go show this to Motherboard."

* * *

"So why did Motherboard hide it?" Digit asked as he poked at the moist earth with his trowel. The two were in the Control Central greenhouse planting a set of bulbs into an unused portion of the dirt.

Hacker stabbed his shovel into the soil. He used his foot to try to get the shovel to go in deeper, but it barely pierced though the bedrock. "I need more water." he grumbled. Digit tipped a bucket over, spilling the contents into the dirt, softening it up and making it easier to dig through. "Thank you." Hacker said as he made a hole in the dirt big enough to plant one of the bulbs in.

Digit carefully picked up one of the bulbs and placed it in the hole, patting the soil around it like a warm blanket. He watched as Hacker began digging the next hole. "Its a precaution in case it where to be purloined and downloaded by someone else."

"Who would want to do that?"

"Whatever maleficent malefactor would want to use it," he grunted, "they'll never find it now. She didn't even tell me where she put it. She just gave it to Marbles and he stepped though one of her pretentious portals to hide it who knows where. Then she gave me this." He tossed Digit a green and purple striped envelope.

"What does it mean?" Digit asked.

"I don't know. There's nothing inside, its just the envelope." he grumbled as he started digging more aggressively. "I've been working for her my whole life and through all my toil and trouble she doesn't even trust me!"

Digit stared at his creator, his face filled with concern. Hacker let out a deep sigh. "Nevermind." he murmured. Digit smiled, his mood lightened. "We all have to do things we don't want to sometimes. What we were programmed to. That is all."


	7. Magic vs Science

**Chapter 7: Magic and Science**

* * *

Year X-1985

Age: 20 cyber-years

Hacker collapsed on the ground swallowed a handful of dirt. He would never get used to traveling by portal. Being tossed through the spiraling vortex from one cybersite to the next often gave him motion sickness. Although he had to admit that traveling by portal was faster and more efficient than flight pods. Still, no level of speed could compensate for 10 minutes of dizziness and nauseousness.

He sat on the ground while he struggled to regain his sense of balance. He looked up. An enormous sign with the words, "Joe's Cleaning and Repair." hung above a building. The sign was composed entirely out of flashy multi-colored light bulbs that blinked on and off, advertising the establishment. The bell that hung on the door rung as he opened the door into a quaint shop styled room that preceded the garage in the back. "Joe!" Hacker cried.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya!" a voice from the back room hollered. A moment later a purple skinned borg with a muzzle and sharp teeth stepped out. He wore a pair of suspenders and a backwards hat with the name of a sports team written in faded illegible letters. His uniform was covered with cryoxide stains and he held a rusty screwdriver in one hand.

Joe was the supplier of suppliers. He could find the rarest of rare parts and still keep boxes of vintages parts that had been discontinued for years in his warehouse. His prices were steeper than most because he ran a family company and only had the one garage, but this skill and expertise at his profession was undeniable and Hacker was one of his most loyal customers. He thrived on perfection, even his second hand equipment was kept in mint condition. No defective, or cheap equipment to be seen. It was the one place Hacker could go without being surrounded by imperfections.

"Time for Motherboard's yearly cryoxide change huh?"

"Uh huh." Hacker said, flatly. "Do you have it?"

"My supplier should have it here any minute now. Why don't you sit down and we'll have ourselves a chat while we wait."

"Alright." Hacker said, "That wiring you have on your sign is faulty. You should have it looked into."

"Hey, watch it there with the attitude kid." he growled. "I don't like that."

"Speak for yourself." he retorted. "You know I can get cryoxide from a cheaper place without even having to take a step out of Control Central. I come here for the service."

Joe sighed, "Alright, you've made your point. Tell ya what, after you leave, I'll get a ladder and fix it myself."

"Thank you." he huffed, and tried to sound indifference, but turned his head and grinned with smugness.

He took a seat on a stool and leaned against the counter, taking his time and let this eyes wander around the lobby. It was kept clean and neat as always, Joe had always been unusually organized for a mechanic which was a relief. Due to Marble's program, disorderliness bother Hacker perhaps more then it should have. As time passed, it only seemed to get worse. As a result, he tried to stay in Control Central as much as possible.

"So, how's that bird 'a yours?"

"Digit? He's alright. Dents easily though."

Joe nodded, "I told you didn't I? Magnetite resistant metal is very fragile, or else we'd all be magnetite resistant. Unfortunately though, that stuffs harder to find then Waldo. Luckily, magnetite isn't all over the street either or we'll all be in deep trouble. I reckon most folks don't even know it exists. Yep, its a real good thing."

"Its not that bad. Just his beak." he huffed.

"You don't say." he handed Hacker a mug of coffee and then poured himself a cup. Hacker took a sip. Joe always poured him coffee whenever he would come to visit him. It was bitter and disgusting as usual, but Joe always seemed to take pride in his ability to brew a cup.

"Good stuff ain't it? They don't call me Joe for nothing." he said, laughing at his own joke.

"Hilarious."

Just then he heard a sound from outside. "Looks like the shipment of cryoxide's here. I'll go on ahead and get it." Joe said, putting down his coffee and running to the back entrance of the garage.

* * *

As soon as Joe left the door behind Hacker opened. "Joe!" a familiar voice cried.

Hacker turned, although he already knew who would be standing behind him. "He went out back."

"I didn't think you would be here." Wicked said. "If you needed something you could have just asked."

"I come here all the time." Hacker replied, "And it's not like you can carry 50 gallons of cryoxide on the back of your broom."

"Alright." Wicked said, with an air of determination, "You're telling me what's wrong right now. You don't have your bird friend here to get you out this time."

"Or what?" he said, nonchalantly before whirled around. Wicked had taken out her wand and was pointing it straight at his face. Shocked, Hacker leapt off his chair and used it has a shield to defend himself. "Point that thing away you wrench!"

"Its not that smart to insult the girl whose pointing a wand at your head." Wicked smiled evilly.

"Fine!" Hacker growled. "Maybe I'm stressed alright! I don't expect a witch to understand."

"What's that suppose to mean?!"

"You just fly around with your magic and if you have a problem you just lift your wand and poof! The problem is gone!"

"I do not!" Wicked protested. "You think I don't worry about things too!?"

"Right like pretty girls who are self employed have all the problems!" he shouted, before he could stop himself. He almost bit his tongue off. Why did he say that?! _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

But Wicked was too upset to notice. "Why you unbelievable, selfish-" she shouted, grinding her teeth together. "Argh!" she shrieked, "I'll kill you!"


End file.
